Hayes, Ryan F.  <br/><br/>
An analysis of factors contributing to congregational fractures within four Churches of Christ congregations in Zomba, Malawi: A practical theological study 

 - Johannesburg South Africa  South African Theological Seminary  October 2019 
 - 178 pages  PDF  A4  Abstract, TOC 
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<br/><br/> The purpose of this thesis is to elucidate the causes of conflict and division within four  Churches  of  Christ  in Zomba,  Malawi.  This  topic  is  examined  through  the processes of empirical research through focus groups and subsequent corroboration with literary sources. Before the empirical research was carried out, the assumption was that the primary reasons for the conflict related to the leaders’ lack of education in relation to ecclesial and theological matters. After the research, it became clear that  the  reasons  for  the  conflict  were  much  deeper. A  new  theory  was  therefore developed considering the research, which was that personal and systemic anxiety relating to unstable identity formation is the ground out of which conflict and division occur in the four Zomba congregations. The letter to the Galatians is utilized as a normative guide  to  understand  the  importance  of  anxiety and  identity  in  Zomba congregations.  Paul’s  exhortations  are  also  utilized  to  form  the  transformative intervention for this context. Several interventions are suggested to ameliorate the problem in context, but the most important of which is a whole-life discipleship model created  for  Zomba  church  leaders.  It  is  the  assumption  that  such  a  program  will effectively ameliorate the root causes of anxiety and unstable identity formation. In doing so, the symptoms of conflict and division will be amended over time.